This project provided funds for a preservation plan and treatment recommendations for the Badin-Roque House (built circa the 1770s) in Isle Brevelle, Louisiana. The Badin-Roque House is an important resource to the local and national Creole community. The simple one-story cottage is of a rare design called poteaux-en-terre (posts-in-ground) building with bousillage walls (a mixture of mud, Spanish moss and deer hair) with a spacious porch situated under its large overhanging roof. The vertical timbers that make up the frame of the house are placed in holes that are filled with stones or dirt.
Surviving examples of poteaux-en-terre buildings are rare due to the posts’ high susceptibility to water damage in Louisiana’s wet soil. It is believed that the Badin-Roque House is the only remaining building of its type in Louisiana and one of only a handful in the U.S.
A preservation plan was greatly needed to guide the future stabilization and restoration of the building. The house was placed on the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation Most Endangered List in 2007-2008. Since then, the building has deteriorated due to minimal maintenance and a lack of a preservation plan. The structure was purchased in 1979 by the St. Augustine Historical Society (SAHS), which is committed to preserving the building in the next 2-5 years.
Funding a preservation plan was the first step in saving this unique building. SAHS used the plan to raise funds to carry out the repairs. A one-day community celebration was hosted to increase awareness of the Badin-Roque House and the completed preservation plan. A hands-on workshop was completed to make minor repairs to the bousillage.
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BADIN-ROQUE HOUSE
The Badin-Roque House is a historic house located along LA 484, about 6.6 miles (10.6 km) southeast of Natchez. Originally built in the early 1770s, it's a poteaux-en-terre French Creole cottage with bousillage construction walls. Several alterations were made in the 1830s when a beaded tongue and groove ceiling was added, along with board and batten fenestration, and in 1850 ...
ORAL HISTORY AND ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWS WITH TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED PEOPLE OF CANE RIVER CREOLE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK - NPS
In 2006, H. F. Pete Gregory, Dayna Bowker Lee, Susan E. Dollar, and William Fagan of Northwestern State University completed a Phase I Ethnographic Overview and Assessment (EOA) of Cane River Creole National Historical Park (CARI) and associated communities. Phase I of the project traced cultural development and community formation, examined changes in the...
BADIN-ROQUE HOUSE, STATE HIGHWAY 484, NATCHEZ, NATCHITOCHES PARISH, LA | LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - LOC.GOV
- Significance: The Badin-Roque House, located on the west bank of the Cane River, is a late eighteenth-century poteaux-en-terre (post in earth) French Creole cottage with bousillage (mud and moss) infill between the poteauxs. Today, there are only four known extant examples of poteaux-en-terre ...
BADIN-ROQUE HOUSE PRESERVATION STUDY - NPS
This report offers recommendations, the scope of work, and related opinions of cost for the structural restoration of the Badin-Roque House. In addition to the structural component of our assessment, the design team has provided holistic guidance for architectural preservation.
Last updated: February 4, 2022